The Piano Man
by Silver-Shelter
Summary: Son Gohan needs a job. So he lands himself a gig playing the piano for a rundown bar and grill. There he meets unhappy drunks, a waitress earning her way through law school, and other people who convince him that life is worth living. AUGV


Please don't kill me! I promise, just let me get this first chapter out of my system, and the next thing I'll update will be the last chapter for RS: The Beginning.

Summary: Son Gohan is in desperate need of a job. So he lands himself a gig playing the piano for a rundown bar and grill. There he encounters a series of adventures involving heartbreak, unhappy drunks, a barkeep who deserves better, drugs, a waitress earning her way through law school, and many reasons for living. AU- GV

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of the songs mentioned.

Chapter One

Son Gohan was a very smart person. At the age of thirteen, he had a masters' in microbiological sciences and immunology. At seventeen, he majored in both molecular biology and nuclear engineering.

Shortly after he turned nineteen, he got a job working in a laboratory that specialized in finding the cures for the many diseases that unfairly take away life.

And when Gohan was twenty-one, his father was robbed of his own life to public enemy number one: cancer.

Amidst his grief and turmoil, Gohan remembered thinking, 'Ironic. Amazingly and terribly ironic.'

Needless to say, Gohan went from a clean-cut, no-nonsense young man to a ragged, careless being who shut himself out from the world by locking himself up in his apartment. Instead of remembering the fondest memories he had of his father, all Gohan could think about was how unfair and cruel life could truly be. His father, Goku, was not an evil man. He did not deserve to be ripped from the world so suddenly and without reason.

And instead of going back to work and try harder than ever to find a cure, Gohan stayed home, exploring the inner-workings of his soul. During his explorations, he bought a piano and taught himself how to play it.

In the beginning, all he did was press a few keys- testing the waters, one might say. After a while he dug up enough courage to teach himself how to actually play the instrument. Two long, aggravating months later, Gohan was able to play the piano quite decently.

Son Gohan was a very smart person indeed. That was why he stood outside of a restaurant, staring at the sign in the window:

_"Wanted: Musician able to work 5:00 PM to 2:00 AM."_

Gohan looked up at another sign that flashed the restaurant's name:

_"Kojo's" _(although the first 'o,' and the 's,' were burned out.)

_(A/N: I need to come up with a new restaurant name. LoL)_

Before Gohan could decide whether he wanted to go in or not, a young woman with bleached hair and a blue dress stormed out. She looked at the sign in the window and let out a frustrated howl. She stomped her foot and started to mutter about ungrateful managers.

During the woman's temper tantrum, she didn't seem to notice that the spiked heel of her right shoe snapped off and rolled over to Gohan.

Gohan picked up the black heel and made his way over to her. "Um, excuse me, miss? This broke off of your shoe."

The woman stopped her ramblings and turned to look at him. It seemed she didn't notice him at first, either.

Faster than the eye could blink, the brown-eyed woman composed herself and gave Gohan a charming smile. "Oh," she said in a sugary voice while taking the heel from him, "Why, thank you."

She turned abruptly and stormed back inside the restaurant, leaving a very confused Gohan in her wake.

For reasons Gohan himself could not figure, Gohan followed her into what seemed like a bar and grill. As he closed the door behind him, Gohan looked at his surroundings: there were several people sitting at the bar, which was very peculiar at one o'clock in the afternoon. There was a couple in the booth farthest from the door (which wasn't very far). The couple looked like they were in a heated discussion, complete with rude hand gestures and icy glares. The place reeked of cigarette smoke and bad booze, and it was so dimly lit, it was hard to tell where the vomit stains were.

Opposite the bar was a rather small stage, it being probably only nine feet by twelve feet. Propped on the stage was a tenor saxophone on its stand, and keeping it company was a dusty, upright piano. On the piano was a wireless microphone that looked like it was made of blue tape, happy face stickers, and the wired head.

"You can't fire me! I'm the most talented person in this joint!" A voice cried from behind Gohan. Gohan turned and found the blonde lady yelling at a very tall man with red hair. His arms were crossed and the look on his face told Gohan that he was used to the verbal abuse the woman was giving him.

"Listen, Jess," the tall man began firmly, his dark eyes growing bright with impatience, "You are a very talented singer; but your attitude needs some improvement. You come in late every morning, you leave early every night, you yell at the customers, and you disrespect every employee here. Either shape up or hit the road!"

The people at the bar applauded, yelling, "Atta boy, boss man!" "Go on, Hank!" or "That's right, Hank, you tell her!"

It was then Gohan noticed that the people clapping were all wearing shirts with the same logo that said "Kojo's." The six people sitting at the bar were the staff of the restaurant (seven if you included the bartender.)

The woman's lower lip trembled; Hank only rolled his eyes.

"Fiine," she blubbered, "But you'll be sorry!" With that, she stomped out of Kojo's.

"You think she'll come back?" One employee asked nervously.

"Of course," said another, "You know the routine: Hank fires her, she storms out, then she's back here first thing in the morning, beggin' for a second chance."

Someone chuckled, "Don't you mean ninth chance?"

"Actually, it's the eleventh chance," the bartender corrected, wiping a mug clean, "I think you were out sick when she got her tenth chance."

"Seriously, Hank, you gotta let the drama queen go _sometime_. If she insults my cooking one more time, I'm gonna go against my upbringings about how to treat a lady."

"Oh, please, that monster is no lady."

"Alright, enough!" Hank cried, rubbing his temples, "I can't let Jess go because she doesn't _have_ a place to go. She needs a job and I'm the only person who'll give her one, so deal or I'll fire _you_."

It was quiet for awhile, the employees too ashamed to speak. But one did speak, and she said, "Hank, that big heart of yours is going to get you into heaps of trouble one day."

"Then at least it'll be trouble I can face with a clean conscience."

They were quiet again, until someone cleared their throat.

It was only when everyone turned to look at him did Gohan realize that he was the one who made the noise.

Hank put on a kind smile, "May I help you?"

"Uh…" Gohan gulped, wishing everyone wasn't staring at him, "I play the piano."

Gohan almost slapped himself.

':You could've mentioned the sign in the window, you dork:'

'I'm working on it,' Gohan said to his conscience. (A/N: I noticed something: I only use the conscience whenever I write a DBZ fic. How weird is that?)

But Hank nodded and said, "Oh, you must've seen the sign."

Gohan nodded dumbly, still aware of the workers studying him.

"Can you play any other instruments?"

Gohan shook his head.

"Can you sing?"

"Um… I don't know…"

"Well, let's see what you got," another voice said, joining in on the conversation. Gohan recognized it was the voice that belonged to the person who said Hank had big heart. Gohan looked at her and saw that her stare was the most intense of all.

"What?"

"Yes, consider this an audition," Hank said cheerfully. He gestured to the piano on stage. "Let's see what you got," he repeated.

Gohan practically had to tell his legs to walk in order to make them move towards the stage.

'I can't be getting stage fright!' he told himself, 'How am I getting stage fright?'

All the same, Gohan was sitting on the piano bench, his fingers skimming the glossy keys. He had to stop himself from coughing from the dust.

"What would you like me to play?" he asked.

Hank shrugged, "Anything you want."

Gohan nodded. He thought for a bit and decided on _Fur Elise_.

They stopped him after five seconds: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop!" "Don't play anymore!"

Gohan was hurt. He didn't think he was that bad… was he?

He must have looked hurt, too, because Hank said, "It's not that we don't like it. It was very nice. It's just… we don't play classical here."

Now Gohan was confused. "But… I only know classical."

Hank thought for quite sometime before he came up with a solution, "Can you sight-read?"

"Uh, well, I guess-"

"Great! Hey, Jim, go get this guy some music."

"Right away, boss man." A short man with black hair stood up and disappeared behind a door by the still-arguing couple.

"So, tell me, kid, what's your name?"

"S-Son Gohan."

"Nice to meet ya, Gohan. As you probably already know, I'm Hank. I own this place." Hank's smile was filled with pride. He started to introduce his employees.

"This is Lana; she's a waitress," he gestured to the girl sitting next to him. She giggled and waved, her green eyes wide with innocence and her brown hair up in a pony-tail. "That's John behind the bar." John winked, wiping yet another mug. "Sharpener's the chef, along with Danny. Danny's in the kitchen." Sharpener flipped his long blonde hair over one shoulder and chugged the rest of his beer. "Erasa, over there, is a fellow musician. She plays the trumpet." Said girl pulled out a stick of gum and started chewing, flashing Gohan a smile. "Zach plays the clarinet." Zach pushed his curly black bangs out of his eyes. "Jim was the guy who went to get your music. He plays the sax and the guitar. And over there yonder is Videl. She's also a waitress." Videl had deep blue eyes and long, black hair pulled back. She quirked an eyebrow at Gohan, not yet sure what to make of him.

Jim appeared with some sheets of paper in his hands. "Ok," he said, shuffling through the pages, "We have _Too Darn Hot_, _Imagine, You Give Me Fever, Live and Let Die_-"

"Let him play _Live and Let Die_. I always liked that song," Hank grinned.

Jim handed the sheet music to Gohan. "Good luck, kid."

"Uh, thanks," Gohan replied, taking the music.

Gohan set the music in front of him and studied it. It didn't seem too difficult. He checked for any sharps, flats, crescendos-

"Anytime, Gohan."

Gohan flinched. It was now or never.

Gohan preferred never, to be honest.

Then Gohan started to play. As he played, he was unaware of the conversation going on between the staff members.

John shrugged, "He ain't half bad. He's pretty good if you ask me."

"Yeah, Hank, he's got talent," Jim said.

Lana giggled, "He's cute, too."

Videl rolled her eyes, "You think anything that moves is cute."

Lana stuck out her tongue and went on day-dreaming.

Zach listened to the song and said, "We do need a piano player. It's good accompaniment to have. Now we just need a singer."

Videl looked alarmed, "Wait, we're not really hiring this guy, are we?"

Hank nodded. "Yeah. Why, you don't like him?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Don't trust him."

Now it was Lana's turn to roll her eyes. "You don't trust anything that moves," she said mockingly.

Videl made a rude gesture.

"I'm with Vi on this one," Sharpener chimed in, "I don't trust him either."

Hank sighed, "I don't care. I like him. Plus, he can play. He's hired."

Before Videl or Sharpener could protest, Hank called out, "Congratulations, Gohan, you're hired! When can you start?"

TBC!

Yeah! Woo-hoo! I think I can honestly say I feel good about this story. The first and last parts were kinda iffy, but I really like the middle. LoL. Well? Should I continue? Tell me please! Let me know what you think! If you have any problems, tell me nicely, ok? My feelings get hurt easily. Much appreciated!

P.O.G.

Bye-Z!


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